Growing Up
by Hermione Is My Role Model
Summary: Magnus is watching back all the home videos of his and Alec's sons, Max and Rafael. Slight spoilers for Born To Endless Night and Lady Midnight
1. First Steps

**Disclaimer: I, unfortunately, am not Cassandra Clare.**

The camera was ready in Isabelle's hands, recording Max taking his first shaky steps across the floor of the living room, gripping Alec's fingers as he wobbled towards Magnus. Maryse looked on with proud tears in her eyes, offering words of encouragement to her grandson. Simon and Jace sat on the couch with plates of pizza on their laps, dutifully watching their nephew fall on his bottom and get up again. Clary knelt next to Magnus, smiling at Max's determination, one of Max's stuffed toy animals on her lap.

Max finally made it to Magnus's arms, and his family made all the appropriate noises and exclamations of amazement and praise and congratulation. Maryse whipped out her own camera and snapped a picture, beaming as Max pushed himself to his feet, using Magnus as support. She took another as Max toddled clumsily back to Alec.

Alec and Magnus turned their faces towards Isabelle, smiling proudly, and Max promptly sat down, having decided that that was quite enough walking for one day. He reached out for his toy, which Clary handed to him. As Magnus turned to say something to Alec, the video footage ended.


	2. First Words

"Max said his first word today," Alec said behind the camera. The pride was evident in his voice. "I just texted Isabelle, she was so excited. The entire family probably knows about it by now." Magnus was feeding Max, who was wriggling in his high chair and banging his spoon happily. "Max, can you say it again? Say 'Papa.' Can you say 'Papa'?" Alec asked.

Max burbled in reply, baby food smeared around his mouth.

"How about 'Daddy'?" Magnus suggested. "Or 'Dada'?"

Alec laughed. "He said 'Papa' earlier, didn't you, Max? I guess he's not going to do it for the camera."

Magnus spooned the last of Max's breakfast into his mouth, wiping his face gently with the edge of his bib. "There. All gone!"

Max giggled, waving his pudgy fists at the camera. Magnus lifted him from his high chair.

"You sure you're not gonna say 'Papa' again, Max?" Alec asked their son. "Auntie Izzy will be so disappointed. She's probably on her way right now."

"I still think you should say 'Dada.' I think Daddy's secretly jealous that I was your first word." Magnus smirked at Alec.

"I'm not," Alec protested, laughing.

"Dada," Max cooed. His parents stopped talking.

A grin spread across Magnus's face. "Two words," he said, "in less than half an hour. Grandma is going to be over the moon."

"My clever boy," Alec cooed back at Max, scooping him into his arms and handing Magnus the camera. "My clever little blueberry."

The doorbell rang.

"Isabelle," Magnus and Alec said in unison. Magnus went to open the door, giving Alec the camera. His voice could be heard: "Ah, I thought the whole family would be here. Come in, come in. Max said 'Dada' in the time it took you to get here."

Footsteps neared the kitchen – Robert's heavy footfalls, Isabelle's high heels, Maryse's squeaking new shoes. Jace and Clary were laughing while Isabelle eagerly asked Magnus for details. They poured into the kitchen, and Max and Alec waved. The recording finished just as Max's aunts and uncles and grandparents were greeting him.


	3. Hello

Magnus was pushing Max in his buggy, his hair blown back by the wind, the sun glaring on his tanned skin. The Eiffel Tower loomed up ahead, and gaggles of tourists streamed to and from it, talking excitedly to each other in French, English, German, Spanish, Japanese and other indistinguishable tongues. Parents pushed babies in prams and carried toddlers in their arms or on their shoulders. Couples lounged on benches or walked hand-in-hand. Children ran and laughed and chased pigeons. Everyone was in shorts, skirts, T-shirts and dresses, carrying bags of toys and souvenirs.

Magnus stopped and looked behind him, towards the camera that Alec was pointing at him. He smiled as Alec came to walk beside him.

"Enjoying yourself?" he asked.

"Of course," Alec replied. He turned the camera towards Max, who was happily playing with a toy elephant Magnus had "paid for" in a French toy shop. He wore an orange T-shirt with a green dinosaur on it, green shorts and little red shoes. He looked up at Alec and grinned.

"Hello there, blueberry," Alec said with a smile.

"Hello," Max repeated, looking pleased with himself. He had recently learnt that word, and he took pleasure in saying it as often as possible. Magnus and Alec had, on Maryse's advice (or, possibly, command), kept a diary of words that Max had learnt since "Dada" and "Papa," and the list had been growing over the past few weeks.

"Hello," Max shouted at a group of Japanese tourists. Magnus and Alec laughed.

"I'm sure they appreciated that, Max," Magnus told him.

"Although maybe 'konichiwa' would've been even better," Alec added, grinning.

They stopped on a patch of grass, and Magnus spread out a picnic blanket, taking Max out of his buggy. They were in the shade of a tree. Magnus kicked his flip-flops off and stuck his feet in the sunlight, Max on his lap. Max crawled over to Alec, getting up close to the camera.

"Say hello, Max," Alec encouraged him as Magnus watched.

Max waved his elephant at the camera. "Hello!"


	4. Love is Easy

**Congratulations! Your patience has been rewarded. I'm so sorry for the wait xxx GCSEs happened, then I was on holiday so I kinda got distracted from writing this *looks guilty***

The camera was in the doorway of the kitchen, where Alec was clearing the table and two-year-old Max was racing his toy cars across it. Alec was wearing an apron over a blue T-shirt and grey underpants, while Max was wearing his favourite pyjamas with little pirates on them. They were both unaware of the camera's presence.

Magnus had just walked off camera, and the sounds of a radio could be heard – a buzzing sound as he tuned it, a jumble of rapid voices, and then music. Max looked up at the sound of it, and then Magnus returned to the kitchen, resplendent in a silk dressing gown, singing along to the song.

 _Do, do, do, do-do-do,_

 _Do, do, do, do-do-do,_

 _Do, do, do, do-do-do,_

Alec grinned, putting down the plate he was drying with a red and green checked dishcloth. "I've heard this before. What's it called?"

"Love is Easy – McFly," Magnus replied, grabbing Alec's hand and making him twirl. "Come on, dance with me."

 _Today,_

 _I'm laughing the clouds away,_

 _I hear what the flowers say,_

 _And drink every drop of rain,_

 _And I see,_

 _Places that I have been,_

 _In ways that I've never seen,_

 _My side of the grass is green,_

 _Ooh I can't believe that it's so simple,_

 _It feels so natural to me,_

"You're not a bad singer," Alec mused, smiling.

"I should do this every morning. I shall serenade you when you wake up," Magnus decided, waltzing him around the room. "Max! Come here, dance with us!"

Alec swung Max around in his arms, making him laugh. "Again, again!" he demanded, and Alec obliged.

 _If this is love,_

 _Then love is easy,_

 _It's the easiest thing to do,_

 _If this is love,_

 _Then love completes me,_

 _Cause it feels like I've been missing you,_

 _A simple equation,_

 _With no complications,_

 _To leave you confused,_

 _If this is love, love, love,_

 _Hmm it's the easiest thing to do,_

Alec joined in, catching on quickly. Magnus beamed, taking both of them suddenly into a tango, his movements slow and graceful. Magnus had been teaching Alec different dances, and in his opinion Alec's Shadowhunter grace and reflexes made him a natural.

 _Do, do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do do,_

 _Do-do-do, do you_

 _Feel the way that I do?_

 _Do I turn your grey skies blue?_

 _And make dirty streets look new?_

 _Hmm and the birds sing,_

Magnus's voice suddenly went high as he sang the next lines, now dancing with Max, Alec watching in amusement.

 _Tweeheeheeheeheeheeheet,_

 _Tweedleedeedeedee,_

Alec raised his eyebrows. "That was supposed to be bird noises?"

Magnus rolled his eyes at him, and Max giggled as he was twirled around and picked up again.

 _Now I know exactly what they mean,_

 _Ooh I can't believe that it's so simple,_

 _It feels so natural to me,_

 _If this is love,_

 _Then love is easy,_

 _It's the easiest thing to do,_

 _If this is love,_

 _Then love completes me,_

 _Cause it feels like I've been missing you,_

 _A simple equation,_

 _With no complications,_

 _To leave you confused,_

 _If this is love, love, love,_

 _Hmm it's the easiest thing to do,_

 _Do, do, do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do, do,_

Max suddenly joined in with his parents, making them smile. He was attempting to sing along with the "Do, do, do-do-do-do-do, do, do" part, more saying it than singing it, Alec and Magnus encouraging.

 _Wooh ooh ooh wooh ooh ooh oooh!_

 _Wooh ooh ooh wooh ooh ooh oooh!_

 _Wooh ooh ooh wooh ooh ooh oooh!_

 _(What is it you want, Mary? What do you want? You want the moon? Just say the word and I'll throw a lasso around it and pull it down. Hey. That's a pretty good idea. I'll give you the moon, Mary.)_

"That's from a movie called 'It's a Wonderful Life'," Magnus said, smiling as he recognised the voice speaking the lines from the movie. "I've watched it twice with Tessa and once with Catarina, it's quite good. I always thought it was such a pity Shadowhunters don't watch movies."

 _Oooooh no,_

 _If this is love,_

 _Then love is easy,_

 _It's the easiest thing to do,_

 _If this is love,_

 _Then love completes me,_

 _Cause it feels like I've been missing you,_

 _A simple equation,_

 _With no complications,_

 _To leave you confused, No,_

 _If this is love, love, love,_

 _It's the easiest thing to do,_

"Let's just put this song on a loop and sing and dance to it all day," Magnus suggested. "What do you think, Max?"

Max nodded.

"Why do you agree with everything Papa says?" Alec asked him, laughing.

"Because Papa is always right," Magnus said, as though it was obvious. Alec shook his head in mock exasperation.

 _Do, do, do-do-do, do, do, (Hey!)_

 _Do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do, (oooh this is love love love love love love)_

 _Do, do, do-do-do, do, do, (oooh this is love love love love love love)_

 _Do-do-do, do, do,_

 _Do-do-do, do_

Magnus rushed to the radio when the song was over.

"No, Magnus, we are not playing it over and over again!" Alec called after him.

"Play it again!" Max shouted happily.

"Anything for my little blueberry," Magnus cooed, poking his tongue out at Alec

"Max, don't encourage him," Alec said, pretending to be cross. Max grinned cheekily up at him. "Hey, Magnus, let me choose a song. Please?"

"Okay," Magnus agreed, faking disappointment. He moved to the camera, and the recording ended just as a new song came on.


	5. Announcement

Hey everyone!

Since this account has been dead for about two years (apologies to anyone who has been waiting for me to update my stories) and I've kind of lost interest in this site, I have made the decision to move to Archive Of Our Own, where I have already uploaded three stories – you're welcome to read them as long as you've read The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare, although I will probably write stories for my other fandoms and not just Cassie's books. The stories I uploaded on here will remain here for anyone who wishes to read and review them, but as of right now I don't plan to update them anytime soon.

Thank you to everyone who has read, reviewed, followed and liked my stories on for the past five years! As an aspiring writer, your feedback means a lot to me, so I would really appreciate it if you checked out my AO3 stories (although you totally don't have to). I also have a Twitter and a Tumblr, for anyone who wants to follow me to see what I'm into and what I'm writing now. I am ellascarlett710 on Twitter, hermionejohannalightwood on Tumblr, and ellalightwood on Archive Of Our Own.

See you there (hopefully)!

Love,

Ella (Hermione Is My Role Model).


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